Cold Tea
by MysteryProf
Summary: A blizzard has appeared over London's Scotland Yard that has left Alfendi Layton stuck at the office with his work. As he takes a trip to the break room to warm some tea, he takes an unexpected stop at the Forensics Lab to find that he's not stuck alone. *Alfendi x Florence*


**A/N: Alright, I have to explain why I gave Florence a pocket knife; It's a recent headcanon of mine. ****_That since _****_Florence is sick all the time, I assume that people see her as weak. So I think she would carry around a pocket knife to defend herself if she ever needed to. No one should underestimate Florence._**

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**Cold Tea**

His assistant surely would have been safely home by now, or at least he hoped. One look out the window into the blizzard hovering over London told Placid Prof that he wasn't going home tonight, but that didn't change anything; he rarely left Mystery Room. Placing his cold cup of Earl Gray tea on the corner of the desk and pulling today's newspaper out of his left pocket, Alfendi listened to the pure silence and basked in it. There was the soft howling of the wind outside, but more importantly, Potty Prof was unusually quiet considering that Placid just finished going through a case file. He didn't dare complain about it.

Looking over to the clock above the office door, its ticking arms marched on to the early hour of exactly two in the morning. Alfendi let out a tired sigh as he got up and grabbed his tea to go warm it at the break room, telling himself only one more cup before he'd call it a night.

Down the halls of Scotland Yard Alfendi noticed the dim glow of a room's light down the hall. It couldn't have been Dustin; he had done his nightly rounds early so he could make it home before the blizzard really hit. Besides him, no one else came to mind so Alfendi went to investigate.

Opening the door to the Forensic Lab, an interesting scene was laid out before Alfendi. In her signature rolling chair, Florence Sich was slumped over onto her desk with the IV, half full, still in her arm. Alfendi walked into the room wondering why she hadn't left yet and placed a hand on her shoulder after placing his tea on the desk. She jumped at the touch and placed a hand on her IV, ready to tug it out.

"Oh Al… it's just –Achoo!- you." She rolled back into the place at her desk; face a light shade of red.

"Why are you still here Florence? You should have let Lucy take you home when she left…" He knew she was always sick, but she looked even worse now and that concerned him. Deep purple circles loomed under her tired, bloodshot eyes. Her hair was a mess after falling asleep at the desk scattered with used tissues. She looked ready to fall over, IV and all.

"I was working on –Achoo!- the samples to the new case you and Lucy received. I had to make sure they would get done –Achoo!- in time so I wouldn't get yelled at again…"

"Florence, no one would…" Alfendi's expression and tone shifted to a mix of dark self-loathing and gloom. "Oh…." He felt like a fool; it was obvious that she was referring to Potty Prof. The reason for her actions earlier was because she was expecting to be face to face with _him. _Florence was afraid of_ him_.

"Don't take it too personal Al. You're a great guy, but after –Achoo!- running into Potty Prof for the first time…" Florence stopped as she seemed to flash back to the very day. She had to go and break the news to Alfendi that the evidence for the case wasn't going to be processed for another day. Potty Prof was outraged at the news, throwing empty threats at her and saying that it was one extra day the criminal would roam free. But encountering Potty Prof made Florence feel like she was facing a criminal herself, and she didn't like to think about it too often. "I'm sor-

Alfendi stopped Florence mid-sentence as he hugged her. "I'm sorry… I never meant to scare you." He would always catch tail end of some new rumor that spouted about him and Lucy being together, but that wasn't the case. Neither of the Profs could find a way to say it, but they had feelings for Florence, and Alfendi finally knew how she felt. He didn't want her to be afraid anymore.

"The only people who should have to fear me are criminals." Potty Prof whispered into Florence's ear and she grabbed her pocket knife with a free hand. "There's no need to cut off my fingers Ms. Sich, I'm certainly _not_ a criminal." Potty Prof pulled away from the hug and placed his hands on Florence's shoulders to look her in the eye, his dark amber ones piercing hers. They showed fear while her face said something else she couldn't hide. The hug from his other half had an effect on her; face now a shade of red that would rival the color of his own hair.

"Al, let me-"

"Listen to me," Potty Prof began in a hushed tone. "I need you to trust me; trust me like you do with my pathetic other half and don't be afraid. Whether you like it or not, I love you Florence Sich. I will-" Potty Prof raised a hand to his pounding head as Placid Prof took control again. "I'm sorry to disturb you Florence, but please make sure you go and get some rest." Placid Prof tried his best to slip away from the situation his other half had put him in. But if Florence wasn't going to accept his feelings for her, then there was no point in stick around as he made his way to the door after picking up his tea cup.

"Wait Al…" Placid Prof froze where he stood, but didn't look back at her. "I feel the –Achoo!- same way. But to be in a relationship with you… It's going to take me some –Achoo!- time to get used to it. Can we just start out slow?" That's all Placid Prof needed to hear. He let out a light chuckle, leaving the doorway without saying a word.

It was about ten minutes before a sleep deprived Florence heard footsteps coming down the hall again; a look at the door showed that Placid Prof came back with two cups of tea. He handed her a cup of Chamomile tea that she accepted and took a sip of his own Earl Gray. "Why don't we start now?"

Within that moment, Alfendi seen Florence do something that she hadn't done in ages; she had smiled.

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**Well, I've never written Florence before so I have no idea how I did...**

**But leave a review if you want guys; there's always advice that can help me improve! Reviews are my lifeblood! :D**

**-MysteryProf**


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